News:

"There is a terrible desperation to the increasingly pathetic rationalizations from the climate denial camp. This comes as no surprise if you take the long view; every single undone paradigm in history has died kicking and screaming, and our current petroleum paradigm 🐉🦕🦖 is no different. The trick here is trying to figure out how we all make it to the new ⚡ paradigm without dying ☠️ right along with the old one, kicking, screaming or otherwise." - William Rivers Pitt

Solazyme, Inc. (Solazyme) makes oil. The Company’s technology transforms a range of plant-based sugars into oils. Its renewable products can replace or enhance oils derived from the world’s three existing sources-petroleum, plants and animal fats.

The Company is focused on commercializing its products into three target markets: fuels and chemicals, nutrition, and skin and personal care. In 2010, the Company launched its products, the Golden Chlorella line of dietary supplements. In March 2011, the Company launched its Algenist brand for the luxury skin care market through marketing and distribution arrangements with Sephora S.A. (Sephora International), Sephora USA, Inc. (Sephora USA), and QVC, Inc. (QVC).

New Hampshire, USA -- In an effort to further streamline its solar business and lower the overall cost of solar energy, SolarCity announced today that it would acquire high-efficiency cell manufacturer Silevo for $200 million. In an effort to scale up the technology, SolarCity plans to construct a 1-GW manufacturing facility located in Buffalo, New York within the next two years.

The solar leasing company acquired mounting company Zep Solar in late 2013 in an effort to further vertically integrate its business. Now, chairman Elon Musk explained SolarCity’s imminent need for more, and cheaper, solar panel production, which he expects to reach “tens of GW” annually. “We thought that there was a risk of not being able to have the solar panels we need to expand [SolarCity] long-term…[When considering] the rate at which solar power is advancing, the amount of panels that are being made at a large scale today is really not fast enough,” he said during a conference call.

Musk emphasized the need for not only increased panel production, but a focus on advanced panel technology, which is what SolarCity believes that Silveo has to offer. A combination of higher volume and increased efficiency will “have a dramatic impact on solar and in particular be able to have solar power compete on an unsubsidized basis with the fossilized grid,” said Musk. “It is critical that you have high-efficiency solar panels and a total installed cost as low as possible.”

The Technology

After reviewing dozens of companies, SolarCity ultimately decided to pursue Silevo due to its proven technology and manufacturing success. Silevo uses what it calls “triex” technology to create a crystalline-amorphous hybrid cell, which creates a tunneling oxide and amorphous silicon layer. These layers allow increased temperature tolerance and lead to a high efficiency that currently stands at 21 percent, but SolarCity hopes to reach 24 percent within the next couple of years. The manufacturing process also uses copper electrode metallization rather than silver, which leads to lower costs.

Watch Ucilia Wang discuss Silevo’s technology with then-vice president of business development and marketing Chris Beitel at the 2012 PV America Conference below:

SolarCity co-founder and chief technology officer Peter Rive explained during the conference call that theSilevo technology compares well to standard cells in the 17-18 percent efficiency range and thin film in the 13-14 percent range . While SolarCity’s goal is to eventually reach 24 percent, Rive also noted that 26.4 percent is possible with ground-mounted and tilted flat roof systems due to the technology’s bifacial nature, which means it can absorb sunlight from both sides of the panel.

Rive explained some of the advantages of higher efficiencies with a common residential rooftop system comparison: “Consider a typical 6-kW system with standard efficiency panels and then picture that same system with 24 percent efficiency tri-cell,” he said. “Currently the system requires 24 panels, but the triex-module will require 18 panels. So it requires less labor, less mounting, less wiring, and so on.”

Big Manufacturing Plans

SolarCity is currently in discussions with the state of New York for its manufacturing facility. According to Rive, its initial target capacity is 1 GW within the next two years, making it one of the single largest solar panel productions in the world, creating thousands of local jobs. Groundbreaking is expected to happen very soon, according to Musk. Silevo currently has a 32-MW factory in China.

When comparing the relative costs of domestic vs overseas manufacturing, said Rive, “we believe that at scale we can achieve a competitive cost domestically as a result of having lower energy costs, avoiding import tariffs, a highly automated manufacturing facility and the fact that the triex cell has less labor content per module due to higher efficiency.”

The Silevo technology can be manufactured with off-the-shelf equipment from the semiconductor and flat-panel display industries and standard wafers, according to Rive. SolarCity also plans to open a research facility in silicon valley to ensure that it meets and even exceeds its efficiency targets.

When all is said and done, SolarCity will be one of the most vertically integrated solar companies in the world, spanning module manufacturing, installation, operations and maintenance, and energy sales. “What I am excited about is when we combine engineers at Silevo, Zep, and SolarCity to tailor manufacturing for all solar panels so they are specifically ready for installation,” said Rive.

Though the company does not have current plans to pursue any of the missing pieces to its vertically integrated puzzle, such as inverters or power optimizers, Musk said that they are open to suggestions and constantly looking to pursue the ultimate goal of the industry — to lower the cost of energy.

“We intend to put a lot of effort R&D on the panel side, into the hardware that we already own, and into inverter and battery technology to provide an overall solution to provide electric power at a price less than fossil fuels that are burdening the grid – that is the key threshold,” said Musk. “The demand grows exponentially as price drops, and it will grow at an enormous pace if we compete with grid electricity with no incentives. That is and has been the goal in order for the world to have sustainable energy."

VIDEO MESSAGE TO FOSSIL FUELERS FROM A REPRESENTATIVE OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOMUmm, chew, chew, it doesn't look too good for you fossil fuelers now does it? Well, ya had a good ride. Better quit before you are indicted for premeditated criminal negligence and deliberate profit over planet pollution (whoops, I mean while you are ahead, of course ). Boy these unpolluted tree leaves sure taste good.

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Leges Sine Moribus VanaeFaith, if it has not works, is dead, being alone.

I missed out on a major pop in Solar City Stock (I had sold most of it to buy some other stocks because I didn't think it would pop double digits again for several months. I was wrong. Better luck next time. ).

SCTY 64.53 +9.65 (17.58%)

« Last Edit: July 13, 2014, 03:30:10 pm by AGelbert »

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Leges Sine Moribus VanaeFaith, if it has not works, is dead, being alone.

JUNE IS DONE It wasn't real great but it could have been a lot worse!( several pull backs, RAMPF crashed and now it's going nuts towards the upside: 48% gain today! ). I'm STILL hanging in there. $54,402.34

VIDEO MESSAGE TO FOSSIL FUELERS FROM A REPRESENTATIVE OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOMUmm, chew, chew, it doesn't look too good for you fossil fuelers now does it? Well, ya had a good ride. Better quit before you are indicted for premeditated criminal negligence and deliberate profit over planet pollution (whoops, I mean while you are ahead, of course ). Boy these unpolluted tree leaves taste even better now that half a billion Christians smelled the "Viable Biosphere AIN'T OPTIONAL" COFFEE.

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Leges Sine Moribus VanaeFaith, if it has not works, is dead, being alone.

After watching SolarCity's (Nasdaq: SCTY) stock soar 368% since its IPO, other solar leasing firms are salivating on the prospects of joining in.

Although it doesn't capture the news the way SCTY does, Vivint Solar has quickly become the second biggest US solar installer, and announced its upcoming IPO.

Parent company Vivint, Inc. is spining off Vivint Solar, offering 20.6 million shares for $16-$18 each, with a goal of raising about 380 million - and a $1.79 billion market cap. It will be on the NY Stock Exchange, under the ticker VSLR.

Last year, Vivint actually out-raised SolarCity in solar leasing funds with $780 million compared to $665 million. Started in 2011, solar is a new business for Vivint, which is the largest home automation services company in North America. It's been able to grow so quickly by selling solar to an existing base of 675,000 customers. Blackstone Group bought them in 2012 for a cool $2 billion.

According to Vivint's SEC filing, the company has installed 130 megawatts of solar at about 22,000 homes in seven states , and raised nine investment funds. Growth is picking up speed, with installations in the first half of 2014 almost equal to the entire previous year (58 MW), and up from just 14 MW in 2012. Vivent posted a profit this year, with revenues of $10 million for the first six months, compared to a loss of $20 million last year. It will use the IPO proceeds to grow the business and to repay its $78 million debt.

In just two years, Vivint Solar has grabbed 9% of the market, but it will be hard to catch up to SolarCity's 29% share, especially with its plans for a solar gigafactory.

And while SolarCity operates across much of the US, Vivint is in just seven states - California, Hawaii, Massachusetts, NY, NJ, Maryland and now, Arizona. Surprisingly, Vivint goes door-to-door to get sales, which requires a large sales force and may be one reason why it's so concentrated geographically.

Besides SolarCity and Vivint, the top US solar installers are SunRun, SunPower (Nasdaq: SPWR) and Sun Edison (NYSE: SUNE).Will SunRun be next?

Environmentally-friendly business is profitable businessMany associate sustainability with expense, but companies that have embraced it are financially outperforming

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The size of the opportunity is enormous. The 3% Report recently published by World Wildlife Fund and CDP shows that the economic prize for curbing carbon emissions in the US economy is $780bn between now and 2020, rising to $190bn a year by 2020. It suggests that one of the biggest levers for delivering this opportunity is "increased efficiency through management and behavioural change" – in other words, lean and green management.

The report puts the return on investment (ROI) for lean and green interventions at 233%. In my experience, this is conservative: most organisations can achieve a far higher ROI when adopting the right behavioural and managerial changes. Some 47 studies from the likes of the Economist Intelligence Unit, Goldman Sachs, AT Kearney, Deloitte, MIT Sloan, Harvard and others show that companies that commit to such aspirational goals as zero waste, zero harmful emissions, and zero use of non-renewable resources are financially outperforming their competitors. Conversely, the DARA Group found that climate disruption is already costing $1.2tn annually, cutting global GDP by 1.6%. Unaddressed, this will double by 2030.

Open to everyone, SolarCity (NASDAQ:SCTY) is issuing the first retail solar bond in the US, a $200 million bond offering backed by its vast solar portfolio.

The minimum investment is just $1000 and depending on the maturity date you choose - which ranges from 1-7 years - you earn 2-4% interest.

It's "a simple way for individuals across the United States to earn attractive returns on their investments while also participating in the nation's transformation to clean energy," they say.

SolarCity Bonds

As you know, SolarCity receives monthly payments from its solar leases. Bond holders will receive interest from that income. This is the first of "fairly continuous offerings," they say.

The bond will be used to finance more leased solar systems, complementing the $5 billion its raised from banks and corporations like Google.

SolarCity is among a handful of corporations that have issued green bonds - its $300 million bond (for institutional investors) was the first in the solar industry.

Last month, SolarCity started construction of its solar gigafactory in Buffalo, New York. Its located in the High-Tech Manufacturing Innovation Hub at SUNY's College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering.

The state is investing $750 million for construction in exchange for SolarCity's 10-year lease and investment of $5 billion to run the facility. To raise working capital and funds for acquisitions, the company is issuing $500 million in convertible notes due in 2019.

Investors can buy shares directly at SolarCity's new investment website without paying any fees:

Company Develops Novel System Architecture to Efficiently Separate and Produce Pure Hydrogen From Sunlight and Water SANTA BARBARA, CA--(Marketwired - Oct 21, 2014) - HyperSolar, Inc. (OTCQB: HYSR), the developer of a breakthrough technology to produce renewable hydrogen using sunlight and water, today announced that the Company has achieved a significant technological milestone in its pursuit of clean hydrogen fuel production, by eliminating an expensive hydrogen-oxygen separation process. This will dramatically reduce the overall system cost of hydrogen fuel production from sunlight.

Self-contained sunlight driven water-splitting technology, also commonly referred to as "artificial photosynthesis," typically produces hydrogen and oxygen gas bubbles in the same reactor. This hydrogen-oxygen gas mixture is potentially explosive and must be quickly separated from each other. Current gas separation technology uses selective membranes and is very expensive and the membranes need to frequently be replaced.HyperSolar has developed a novel reactor design and system architecture that uses a high voltage solar cell, that can be wrapped in the company's patent pending polymer coating, that serves two functions:

(1) convert sunlight into electricity to split water into hydrogen on one side, and oxygen on the other side, and

(2) acts as a physical barrier preventing oxygen from combining with hydrogen. The respective hydrogen and oxygen gas bubbles to the top of the reactor as two separate and pure gas streams. This novel design circumvents the need for membrane separators all together.

"Artificial photosynthesis and the concept of separating hydrogen from oxygen has been linked to having great 'potential' for some time," said Tim Young, CEO of HyperSolar. "With this novel reactor design, we believe that we are much closer to eliminating the aspects of the hydrogen production process which many have considered unsafe, costly and inefficient. This breakthrough will support our ultimate goal of cost-effectively producing hydrogen fuel at or near the point of distribution, for use in both consumer and industrial industry sectors."

HyperSolar's technology is based on the concept of developing a low-cost, submersible hydrogen production particle that can split water molecules using sunlight without any other external systems or resources -- acting as artificial photosynthesis. A video of an early proof-of-concept prototype can be viewed at http://hypersolar.com/application.php.

HyperSolar is currently funding a sponsored research agreement with UCSB to further the development of its renewable hydrogen technology.